Tigers FC remained top of the National Premier League U23 competition as they travelled to High Street and returned with all the points after a thrilling 4-2 victory over hosts Queanbeyan City.
Cooper Heagney struck twice, moving his season tally to ten goals for the Tigers forward, and earning a spot on the bench for the first-team match later in the day. Heagney scored first after just seven minutes.
Samuel Aba pulled Queanbeyan level on the half-hour, but Tigers went into the changing rooms ahead as Valentin Chevreau turned a cross past his own goalkeeper. Heagney made it 3-1 in the 68th minute, taking himself to double figures for the season.
Later, Nicolas Pulciani made if four, sealing the points, and making Aba’s goal two minutes from full-time a mere consolation.
At Hawker Football Centre one goal was enough for O’Connor Knights to defeat Yoogali SC 1-0.
The strike came with a quarter-of-an-hour remaining from striker Niko Perinovic, and meant the Knights kept on track to claim top-spot, remaining three points behind the leaders Tigers FC, albeit the Knights have a game in hand.
All the goals at Stryda Park came inside the opening half as Monaro Panthers overturned an early deficit to turn the match on its head and claim a 2-1 victory over visiting Gungahlin United.
Fabian Olivares had put Gungahlin ahead in just the seventh minute of the contest, but Monaro would equalise in the 32nd minute as Ayham Nasser confidently drilled home from the penalty spot.
The match-winning goal would arrive just five minutes later and was converted by Zia Barid, his first goal of the season, the points moving the Panthers into fourth place ahead of the sole Sunday afternoon fixture.
In that fixture Canberra Croatia pulled themselves into third place on the table, leapfrogging their opponents Tuggeranong United in the process, by claiming a 5-0 victory in the Deakin Stadium sunshine.
The home side were comfortable in turning over a Tuggeranong team that had been on good recent form, leading 3-0 at the break, and extending the advantage in the second-half, both teams ending the ninety minutes with ten men following a brace of late dismissals.
A quickfire double from Jebediah Jeffery inside the opening ten minutes set Croatia on their way, Darcy Middleton adding a third before the half-time whistle. Anthony Rakic and Luka Jukic added goals in the final eighteen minutes to seal a comprehensive home success.
RESULTS
ROUND 7
Saturday 24 May
Queanbeyan City 2 (Aba 30’, 88’) Tigers FC 4 (Heagney 7’, 68’, Chevreau 42’ (og), Pulciani 83’)
O’Connor Knights 1 (Perinovic 75’) Yoogali SC 0
Monaro Panthers 2 (Nasser 32’ (p), Baird 37’) Gungahlin United 1 (Olivares 7’)
Sunday 25 May
Canberra Croatia 5 (Jeffery 9’, 10’, Middleton 35’, Rakic 72’, Jukic 86’) Tuggeranong United 0
TABLE
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | Tigers FC | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 32 | 11 | +21 | 19 |
| 2 | O’Connor Knights | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 10 | +6 | 16 |
| 3 | Canberra Croatia | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 15 | 13 | +2 | 12 |
| 4 | Tuggeranong United | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 14 | 12 | +2 | 10 |
| 5 | Monaro Panthers | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 12 | -2 | 9 |
| 6 | Gungahlin United | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 14 | -5 | 9 |
| 7 | Yoogali SC | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 22 | -12 | 7 |
| 8 | Queanbeyan City | 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 21 | -12 | 1 |
TOP SCORERS
10: Cooper HEAGNEY (Tigers FC)
6: Anthony ANTONIAK (Tuggeranong United), Leo DONALD (Tuggeranong United)
5: Zachary ILIJOSKI (Tigers FC)
4: Elliot ALBERTO (Tigers FC), Thinley DORJI (Tigers FC), Jebediah JEFFERY (Canberra Croatia), Marko RATHOUSKI (O’Connor Knights)
3: Kaide CASTLE (Yoogali SC), Stefan DONADEL (Yoogali SC), James GODDING (Canberra Croatia), Ayham NASSER (Monaro Panthers), Fabian OLIVARES (Gungahlin United)
2: Samuel ABA (Queanbeyan City), Joshua AMOAH (Tigers FC), Daniel ANDERSON (O’Connor Knights), Seth BONNETT (Queanbeyan City), Zachary COLSON (Tigers FC), Rocco DI PLACIDO (O’Connor Knights), Alexander EVANS (Queanbeyan City), Daniel GALIC (O’Connor Knights), Jack JANKE (O’Connor Knights), Owen LEARMONTH (Canberra Croatia), Darcy MIDDLETON (Canberra Croatia), Sebastian MUNOZ (Gungahlin United), Niko PERINOVIC (O’Connor Knights), Leo VANDERPOL (Monaro Panthers)
1: Zia BAIRD (Monaro Panthers), Daniel BARBATANO (Queanbeyan City), Xavier BONNETT (Queanbeyan City), Tanatswa BVIRAKARE (Tigers FC), Stephen CERNI (Gungahlin United), Kye COSSETTINI (Tigers FC), Sivamsh DEEVI (Gungahlin United), Ethan DONETTO (Yoogali SC), Aleksandar DORDEVIC (Queanbeyan City), Ivan DZAJA (O’Connor Knights), Jack ELLWOOD (Monaro Panthers), Dominic GALLUZZO (Yoogali SC), Mitchell JERVIS-HAMILTON (Monaro Panthers), Luka JUKIC (Canberra Croatia), Joshua KEENAN (Yoogali SC), Jacob KITE (Gungahlin United), Marcus LAU (Gungahlin United), Ivica MAJETIC (Canberra Croatia), Mohammad MAZRAEH (Tuggeranong United), Joseph MIKAHEL (Monaro Panthers), Ahmed MUBAIDEEN (Tigers FC), Nicolas PULCIANI (Tigers FC), Samuel RACITI (Yoogali SC), Andrija RAKIC (Canberra Croatia), Anthony RAKIC (Canberra Croatia), Abdin SAID (Tuggeranong United), Ali SOHANI (Monaro Panthers), Josip UJDUR (O’Connor Knights), Own GOALS
